


a blue pastel, covered with red light

by chancellorxofxtrash



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Bonding, M/M, Other, post-canon GX, post-canon zexal, protective yubel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:42:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28485561
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chancellorxofxtrash/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: Travelling the world, as fun as it was, in the end, was never ever gonna be enough for Judai.
Relationships: Yubel/Yuuki Juudai | Jaden Yuki, implied Astral/Yuuma Tsukumo
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	a blue pastel, covered with red light

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Arutyh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arutyh/gifts).



> This is a secret santa gift - hope you like it!

Travelling the world, as fun as it was, in the end, was never ever meant to be enough for Judai.

Sure, the world had many wonders - many different places, both duel monsters related and not. Honestly, the second part did not interest him that much, but Yubel seemed to have enjoyed the more mundane sights - the buildings humans built with their two hands, with no mystical powers. The places nature carved out either in spite of human interference, or because of it.

But in the end, it was never going to be enough for Judai, and he knew it wasn’t going to be enough for Yubel either.

But once they got way too antsy from travelling where else could they have gone?

Space? Probably. Humanity was already on the edge of their seats, wanting to explore the darkness and solitude of space - but honestly, Judai figured that he would rather  _ not,  _ thanks. Especially since…

Yubel didn’t talk about it since they fused together.

They calmed down, as if the Gentle Darkness from Judai’s soul managed to ease the burns left on Yubel’s soul from the Light of Destruction.

But Judai could ease the pain, but not make the scars, the memories disappear.

Yubel didn’t talk about it since - but they didn’t  _ have  _ to.

They shared a mind now - Yubel’s memories mixing with Judai’s.

Just like Judai couldn’t always remember his own memories, or took time to recall something, it wasn’t like he always felt all of Yubel’s memories  _ all the time.  _ And it was always the strongest memories that lingered with Judai’s brain.

Yubel’s current comments about everything. Yubel’s amusement and wonder. Yubel’s scoff whenever they saw something stupid.

Yubel’s love for Judai.

_ (The need to protect, the  _ **_violent_ ** _ need to protect, how whenever anyone would just  _ **_think_ ** _ of harming Yubel, the first thought was always, always, still---) _

But the scars were still there, especially in nightmares, and in angry moments.

So Judai didn’t want to go back to space.

Not yet, at least.

People said that while space was vast and unexplored, the ocean was even more so, but really, going underwater never appealed to either of them.

So, the ocean was right out too.

Time travelling could have been fun - there was that time they met Yusei, silent and slightly awkward, and determined at getting his monster back. The fire in his blue eyes that made Judai think that Yusei might have seen some terrible things too, but he stood up and kept going, even if the weight of the world was on his shoulders. Then they met Yugi, the legendary Yugi Muto, and his sincere and earnest smile - and the was he straightened his back during the duel and how he was like  _ a completely different person,  _ and he knew rumours, whispers, especially while travelling the world, and meeting Yugi Muto again, and maybe there was some truth to those rumours.

But time travelling wasn’t something either Judai or Yubel could do.

So that was right out as well.

What else could they have done?

Where else could they have gone?

…

The answer was almost too obvious in the end, wasn’t it?

After all… where did they meet for the first time?

~*~

Travelling through dimensions was child’s play when your soul was permanently fused with a duel spirit already capable of opening rifts in the fabric of space, it turns out.

They did go back to the Dark World.

They needed to check on it still - there were powers in there, beings who had a lot of power, who followed the Supreme King’s lead, but would jump on the power vacuum created by his absence in a heartbeat - and they have done so.

So Judai and Yubel needed to do a little bit of spring cleaning.

Help the people, fix the things they left behind - which was easier, than last time.

In a way.

(It would not erase everything, Judai had known and he ran,  _ they  _ ran before anyone could thank them. There was nothing to thank Judai for. Not after everything that happened.)

They have gone to a lot of other dimensions too.

Of course going between dimensions had an effect on you, if your soul was put together from an interdimensional entity as well apart from yourself.

In these other worlds, Yubel stayed within Judai’s soul. That was always comfortable in a way - the two of them never apart, not even for a moment, even when in a duel he ended up summoning Yubel, Judai still felt them in his heart.

That didn’t mean Yubel never ventured out to form their own body. Being part of Judai meant they could project themselves, they could be… well.

Their own, while still being connected.

It was easier to do that in other worlds, for some reason - in Judai’s own world, Yubel had to use Judai’s power to manifest themselves.

Well either that, or during duels.

But there was something… special, whenever Yubel could materialize themselves without using Judai’s own power, or without having to duel.

At these times, Yubel’s attention was solely on Judai. Of course, their attention was  _ always _ at least partially on Judai, but…

Okay.

Most of the time Judai did his best to get Yubel to pay attention to other things too, and they did - they appreciated the wonders of the world, or at least was amused by them. Being that focused on Judai all the time was what got them into a mess in the first place, after all.

That said…

Sometimes, sometimes he did like the way Yubel’s clawed hands cupped his face, the way their lips curved when their mismatched eyes were only fixed on him.

Sometimes he really did love being the center of Yubel’s attention.

There had been a lot of worlds they visited.

Most of them would be very interesting to talk about. Interesting beings and people they met, things they had seen, experiences they walked through together.

Many, many stories to tell.

But between all of these alternate worlds, one particular visit did stick with them, for a kind of… unusual reason.

The world itself was… well, obviously unlike most others. But these alternate dimensions were mostly different from each other.

No. The thing that stuck with them was one specific being they met there, and how their discussion unfolded.

~*~

The new world they arrived in was blue.

Was not the best description Judai could have thought of, but that was the first thing that came to his mind.

It was a pale, radiant blue mostly - like it was made from blue crystals of sorts, and in the distance, he had seen giant, spire-like buildings.

A city, perhaps.

And he also noticed that despite all of the blue elsewhere, at some places, the sky was… darker. And sometimes red lightning struck the ground, and the entire thing made the hair stand up on Judai’s arms, as he was kneeling on the ground after arriving.

“...we are not responsible for  _ that, _ are we?”

You could never know.

(There had been worlds that had reacted… negatively to tourists like Judai and Yubel.)

“I do not think so,” Yubel’s voice was gentle, and when Judai glanced up, he could not help smiling.

Yubel looked  _ physical. _

And they smiled, then extended their clawed hand - and Judai took it, allowing them to pull him to his feet.

“This feeling… whatever is going on here had probably started before we had arrived. This tension does not feel like a reaction to us.”

“You are correct.”

Judai whipped around, and Yubel’s wings ever-so-slightly spread, as both of them looked at the new arrival.

The being was as bright and light as the world around them was, floating above the ground, mismatched eyes fixed on Judai’s face curiously. His body was full of markings, and there was something… ethereal about him.

Yubel was immediately on high alert, and Judai couldn’t blame them.

“And who are you?”

“I should be the one asking that question,” The being pointed it out. “Seeing as you are the ones who arrived here, duel spirit.”

“So you know what I am?”

“Obviously, seeing as I am a duelist,” The being cocked his head to the side. “My name is Astral. And this is the Astral World.”

“...you named the world after yourself?” Judai bursted out and there was a small smile on Astral’s lips.

“No, I am pretty sure it was the other way around. I was named after our world.”

“Ah…” Judai hummed. “That makes a bit more sense, I guess.”

“And who are you, human who bonded with a duel spirit this closely?”

“Me?” Judai grinned, pointing at himself with his thumb. “I am Judai. And this is Yubel. My partner.”

Hearing the word  _ partner  _ made Astral’s face… change.

There was a softness, a weird  _ familiarity  _ in those mismatched eyes.

“I see,” Astral nodded. “I have a partner too.”

“Do you now?” There was a slight taunting in Yubel’s voice, but Astral didn’t seem to pick up on it. Or if he did, he didn’t show it.

“I do,” Astral repeated.

“We do not use the word  _ partner  _ lightly. I assume  _ partner  _ is not quite the strongest word for the love Judai and I share.”

That…

That, Judai was inclined to agree with.

“Love?” Astral repeated, barely blinking.

“Love,” Yubel nodded. “We went through a lot, so we could be together, and nothing could separate us. Where is your partner, Astral?”

“My partner and I had to take care of things on our own too,” Astral said simply, and there was a soft smile on his lips. “But it’s alright. I’m gonna meet him again soon.”

“Oh?”

Astral looked to the distance as a red lightning lit up the blue sky again.

“Chaos… Chaos is getting stronger and we need to evaluate if it’s dangerous or not. Yuma, he… understands chaos better than I do. Sometimes I feel like he understands it a bit too much. But…” There was a fond smile on Astral’s face. “But that’s what makes Yuma  _ Yuma.  _ He is like that. I’m sure whatever is brewing here now… him and I are going to be able to face it.”

There was something on Astral’s face - a soft smile, and that absolute  _ certainty.  _ That even if the laws of nature would be standing in their way, even if destiny itself would try to stop them, the two of them, Yuma and Astral would be able to do  _ anything  _ anyway.

Judai was… in awe of that certainty.

“Is there anything we could help out with?”

Yubel and Astral both looked at him, and Judai grinned, before continuing.

“I mean… this world seems fun. And the chaos thing? Super fun. Also I want to meet with that Yuma person. Does he duel?”

“Obviously,” There was pride in Astral’s eyes. “He is one of the best duelists I had even known.”

“Sweet. I want to face him one day. Do you think he will want to?”

“I’m sure he will be more than happy to do that, yes.”

“So how about it? We help you with whatever is here - and then we duel. You and Yuma against Yubel and me. Are you up for it?”

There was a light in Astral’s eyes, before tilting his head forward.

“Very well. Now if you excuse me… I need to meet my partner, and our friends.”

“...already?”

Astral did not reply, just flew to the air, doing a little spin, before taking a nosedive - and disappearing in a flash of light, leaving Judai and Yubel alone.

And Yubel spoke again, their voice full of amusement.

“So we are getting involved again, huh.”

“I guess I’m incorrigible this way,” Judai grinned a little, before the smile disappeared from his face. “And I guess… I think I can’t stop thinking about the idea that maybe we didn’t  _ cause  _ the Chaos, but maybe the Chaos… pulled us here for a reason.”

Yubel’s clawed hand touched Judai’s chin, gently lifting his face, making him look into their eyes. And when Yubel spoke, their voice was gentle.

“Not everything is your fault, Judai.”

Ah, of course. Yubel was in his mind so much, that they knew what he was thinking, even when they weren’t physically one being at the moment.

Judai pushed himself to his toes, to press a kiss to Yubel’s lips - and as they kissed, with Yubel’s arms wrapped around him, even their wings wrapped protectively around him, Judai felt nothing would go wrong.

Once they part, they will probably meet Astral again - and his partner, this  _ Yuma,  _ and he really sounded like an interesting person, if judging by the softness in Astral’s eyes which was only there when he mentioned Yuma.

Also their other  _ friends  _ \- and Judai wondered, if their friends were just as colourful as Judai’s own friends were. Because if yes - then he couldn’t wait.

But now - now, not yet.

Now it was just Yubel and him, kissing in the middle of another world.

...quite typical, really.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
